Dr. Craig Spencer on 'dire' situation in NYC emergency rooms
Emergency room physician Dr. Craig Spencer shares a message of preparation amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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A New York City emergency room doctor joined "Bill Hemmer Reports" Friday to inform viewers of the "dire" situation facing hospitals due to the coronavirus outbreak in the city.
"The message I want to share today is not one of panic, but one of preparation. What we're dealing with right here in New York City is something that can happen anywhere throughout this country and big cities and small," said Dr. Craig Spencer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
"And I want to make sure everyone's prepared. The empty streets that you might see on, images of New York City belie the underlying reality of what happens when you cross that threshold in the emergency department."
Spencer went on to deatil the situation in the city's hospitals.
"The ambulance system here in New York City just a day ago had the highest number of ambulance calls ever, including after 9/11. One of my colleagues found a 49-year-old dead in a chair who had been diagnosed with coronavirus and was admitted to the hospital," Spencer said. "We're all now used to putting multiple patients on life support, mechanical ventilators, often at one time. All of my colleagues throughout the city are concerned about the number of ventilators."
"It's unlike anything most of us have ever seen," Spencer added. "And quite honestly, I survived Ebola and I fear coronavirus."
Specer said he has received numerous texts from colleagues around the city detailing the horrific conditions.
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Hemmer brought up White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Deborah Birx's comments during Thursday's press briefing saying there are many ventilators not being utilized in New York City.
"We are reassured [after] meeting with our colleagues in New York, that there are still ICU beds remaining and there's still significant, over a thousand or two thousand ventilators that have not been utilized," Birx said.
Spencer was respectful in his response but disagreed, adding he would talk to someone in the White House about the situation if needed.
"[Doctors] call me every day trying, concerned about running out of the supplies that we need to protect ourselves and the supplies that we need to take care of patients," Spencer said. "Right now, thankfully, a lot of hospitals are not having to put people on, you know, double venting, meaning putting people to people on more than one ventilator at the same time. But it's really inevitable if you look at the cases and how they're climbing and the capacity that exists right now... in our system.
"It's only a matter of time before we're going to have to make these really hard decisions," Spencer said.
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